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Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards – I Forget Now

The mere thought of a new album by Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards is almost enough to turn the mood slightly melancholy. And their new release doesn’t disappoint in that regard. “The cold in your eyes knocks the wind out of me”. Yet, as with its two predecessors, this is no hapless misery fest. Memory is the final part of a trilogy, following Blindspot in 2013 and Distance in 2014. The previous albums felt like direct testimonies of love gone awry. They were wondrous, albeit difficult listening. Memory is no less challenging in that regard. “I was the road you walked and I was the coat you wore”. Now, though, there’s a particular retrospection. For sure, it doesn’t make things any simpler. “So come on now history, you promised me everything”. But it does permit a certain reimagining. “Morning lends the colours that make you feel young again”. And perhaps even a reluctant acceptance. “We’ll see what we can find”. The release of a new album by Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards is always worth putting the bunting out for. And their latest offering doesn’t disappoint in that respect. The bass-baritone vocals are at their most croaky; the Coastguards at their most melodic; and the tunes as good as anything that’s gone before. Memory marks a form of ending for Dan Michaelson and the Coastguards. And yet every ending also marks a beginning. So here’s to the future. And the prospect of yet more wonderfully melancholy moods.